Hari Om Parents
Hope you are all having a great week. Quick summary of the last class we had
We started the class as always with some Stretching and Yoga . This helps with a nice warm up before we sit down for our prayers,
We did 3 OMs followed by Sahana Vavatu.
Then we proceeded to chant Vakratunda, Saraswathi Namasthubyam and Guru Brahma shlokas.
We also chant the Karaagre Vasate Lakshmi and Samudravasane Devi shlokas each week.
We went to the Dhyana Shloka right after that, followed by our Veera Hanumana Bhajan which the children really enjoy singing
We did a 2 minute meditation today.
We did a quick recap of our previous class as it was a short class with Saraswathi Puja. We have finished the Buddhir, Balam in our Dhyana Shloka. Moving to Yasas meaning fame.
We started with discussing what famous means. What does it take to be famous? DO people need only money to be famous? We went to then talk about who are some of the famous people from India - Dr Rajendra Prasad, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Chinmayananda.
Story:
Swami Chinmayananda was born as Balakrishna Menon in May 1916, He was a brilliant student who competed his studies. He loved reading, swimming and badminton. He used to sit in the puja room gazing at pictue of Lord Shiva and play game to remember every detail of Lord Shiva closing his eyes.The later he grew up to be a Journalist. During that time he visited the SHivananda ashram with the intention to discover the true meaning of spirituality. He initially thought it would be a good subject for an article.Swami Shivananda saw a great potential in the then Balakrishna Menon and asked him the question do you want to become a Swami. Finally after much Soul searching he became a Swami and was named as Swami Chinmayananda in the year 1949. With his Guru's blessings, Swami Chinmayananda went to Utarkashi to study the scriptures under the guidance of Swami Tapovan. We learned how much difficulty he had to endure to learn. Place was cold, his hut was very small and Swami Tapovan was very strict disciplinarian. Despite all the difficulties Swami Chinmayananda thrived. He later started doing gyaan Yagna with his guru Tapovan ji's permissions.
What did we learn from the story: Being famous requires hard work, discipline.
We talked about Swami Vivekananda and his quotes. Hope the children have asked you the quote and have you answer whose it was.
Activity: What do I want to be when I grow up. Children shared what they would like to be when they grow up.
Dhairyam:
We started talking about Dhairyam. Dhairyam is courage. What is courage - it is to do the right thing despite difficulties.
Story: Ratnakara
Once upon a time there was a thief called Ratnakara, This was none other than Valmiki. Yes !! Before he became a Sage, he was a professional robber who would steal things from by passers in the forest. One day Narada was walking in the forest and Ratnakara tried to take Narada's veena. Narada asked Ratnakara the question - " You are stealing to keep your family happy, but you are also committing sin by stealing. Willl your family partake in your sins? Ratnakara was shocked at this and went home to ask his family. His family refused to partake in his sins. Ratnakara came running back to the forest to see Narada and asked him what he can do. To which Narada told him to sit in a place and meditate and say "Rama Rama" not to get up till Narada returns. Ratnakara meditated so deeply that he didn't realize there was an ant hill that grew around him and he was completely covered with it. Years passed and finally Narada came and he woke up Ratnakara and named him Valmiki meaning anthill. Through Prayers you can be courageous to give up the sins, like Valmiki.
Moral of the story: Have the courage to change.
We talked about how Rosa Parks had the courage to stand up for herself and the African American community in 1955. How she refused to give up her seat in the front of the bus which was predominantly only for white Americans
Activity: Children were asked how they can build courage to give up their bad habits - biting nails, not using polite words, not sharing with others. The children were asked to think and answer the question. When you make a mistake, do u have the courage to admit it?
Hanuman Backbone Project: This year the children will be working on the backbone project. Every word in the Dhyana Shloka will be discussed and posed a question for them to think and answer in the vertebra that they are handed out to complete. We will not be sending the home yet as it's a class project. The entire project will be handed out at the end of the year.
We were ready for the Gita Chanting that came on TV, Today's verses were Verse 7 and 8 of Chapter 15.
Please have them chant regularly at home, so they can prepare themselves for the chanting competition next year.
We picked our Line leader, door holder and Caboose for the day and lead into the Prayer Hall for Aarti.
Please note that each child will be given plenty of opportunities for chanting the shloka, singing the bhajan, being the line leader and other opportunities in class. We ask of the parents to bring the children on time to class so they don't miss the class activities.
Next class we will be talking about Nirbhayatvam - Fearlessness. Also we have handed out Likita Papa books. Pls have them write Rama Nama, Krishna, or any of their Favorite God's Nama.
Have a blessed week ahead,
With Prem and Om
Gr 2 teachers
